Google Home of the Whopper

Burger King’s Google Home of the Whopper campaign won the Grand Prix for Direct at Cannes International Festival of Creativity 2017, for use of broadcast. Burger King managed to activate Google Home devices through its commercial by asking the question, “OK, Google, what is the Whopper burger?”. Google Home assistants and Android phones with voice search enabled automatically proceeded to read out the answer from the Burger King Wikipedia page. The 15-second commercial, first launched on the Burger King Youtube channel, featured a Burger King attendant trying to describe a Whopper and its fresh ingredients. Running out of time, he ended by asking Google the question, “Ok Google, what is The Whopper burger?”. Complications set in. Internet trolls managed to edit the Burger King Wikipedia entry, adding ingredients like “100% medium sized child” and cyanide. Editors reinstated the original wording. Google then found a way to prevent the ad’s activation of Google Home devices, not long before it was due to be broadcast on TV screens. New versions, with extra audio edits, were launched. Within days after the spot aired, Google Home changed its software to recognize up to six voices only.

According to Miami advertising agency David, the Google Home of the Whopper idea earned 9.3 billion global impressions. It became a global trending topic on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Trends, making it Burger King’s most talked about TV spot and most engaged video in the brand’s history. The spot earned $35 million in US media, and created a 500% increase in brand mentions. Within 48 hours of initial launch, the spot was viewed organically 10 million times online. It totaled 15 million online-only views, vs. the 700,000 Google Home devices it targeted. Burger King became the first brand ever to use voice-activated tech to advertise a product, and started a debate around the limits of advertising and invasive technology.

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